A few years ago, I chanced upon a flyer on X (formerly Twitter) for a certain regional conference exclusive of women speakers, planning to discuss the effects of postpartum pressure among women. For perspective, a panel of five men lined up to deliberate on the effects of post-partum pressure on women. If I remember correctly, the conference must have been in West Africa, during the COVID 19 lockdown.
I starkly became muddle-headed for a moment wondering what could have happened to the mantra “nothing for us without us.” Thank God, I was later exonerated after visiting the comment section – where fellow netizens had also smelt the irony. These had questioned the callousness of the conveners toward excluding women who ideally should have done justice to the topical issue more than their counterparts – the men. Long story short, the conveners were compelled to pull down the flyer, issue an apology statement and rectify their sinister act.
For me that was proof enough that the struggle to amplify women’s voices should be sustained until tangible results are achieved. Meghan Markel, the Duchess of Sussex, once said that “women don’t need to find a voice, they have a voice, they need to be empowered to use it, and people need to be encouraged to listen.”
Denying women a voice is not only grievous but also an assault on human rights, especially the right to freedom of expression, and the right to equality and non-discrimination. Moreover, the misconception is to think that women’s voices should be limited to certain aspects. Yet women’s voices have the power to change the world – and therefore need to be amplified in all spheres of life – including social, economic and political.
Amplifying women’s voices is not merely a balancing act; it is an act of recognizing the ability and potential of women, just like men, toward making meaningful contribution to society. Intentionality is also important when amplifying women’s voices whether in formal or informal spaces. I have consistently realised that women are an afterthought while constituting leadership positions. Their abilities are often shortchanged with tokenism.
But clearly considering women, after men, to fill remaining positions on the decision-making table is “norm compliance” not amplification of their voices. Often time – the latter is more deliberate while the former – is casually about ticking boxes. Norm compliance enjoys excuses such as “there are few women in this field so we couldn’t secure a female speaker.”
Several media houses still insist that its hard securing female panellists for late night political talk shows. Whereas there’s some veracity in their insistence, they ought to consider adjustment while scheduling such talk shows discussing critical issues.
Imagine most political talk shows are hinged on policy and governance issues that tend to affect women more than men. How do we explain the absence of women’s voices and perspectives during such talk shows? Does the “timing” excuse still have gravitas or it’s a deliberate attempt to exclude women in making their voices heard?
Women in the informal sector suffer the most – as their voices remain silenced – due to a cocktail of barriers rooted in both cultural and religious doctrines. This affects not only their esteem but also limits their abilities to make informed choices about their social, political and economic wellbeing. Although not new, this revelation should be earnestly confronted through continuous mindset change, utilizing conventional forums aptly used by the community.
The insidious challenge that lies in silencing women’s voices can take many twists. Yet when women speak out, they don’t speak for themselves, they speak for the entire nation. Palatable to this is the inspiring story of one strong Brazilian woman known as Maria Da Penha on whose shoulders stand the country’s domestic violence law – passed because of her seismic voice – herself being a survivor of domestic violence.
The writer Mr. Badru Walusansa is a Political Analyst
Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at Submit an Article
